<h4>Chapter 12: The Stone Ind Merchant</h4>


    Two days passed, and Minos had already reached level 9, and he was preparing to reach the next stage today. But before that, he would have a somewhat unusual meeting today.


    Despite being the local sovereign, Minos had not yet found any local traders because the local governor generally would not have much to negotiate, being only a regtor for a few activities.


    But today, a Stone Ind merchant would meet with him. Minos was excited about this, as there was only one possibility for such a thing to happen that she knew that he had solved the ck in problem!


    The young Stuart was waiting in his office, along with butler Dillian, when someone knocked on the door and then came in. It was Mia. "Young master, Miss Elen Nash is here to see you."


    "Hmm, tell her toe in. I was already waiting for her." Minos spoke with a satisfied expression.


    After that, a young blonde entered the door. She was gorgeous, with a thin facebined with graceful curves that were neither small norrge. In fact, her measurements were simply the best to ''catch.'' She was also very well-dressed, which made it easy to see that she did not live in the Dry City.


    There was also a man following her. He was tall, muscr, and had a very rxed look. This must be a guard or apanion for the young blonde.


    At that moment, Dillian whispered to Minos. "Young master, these two are already in the 5th stage of cultivation, Spiritual General. The young woman is at level 42, and the man must be at level 47."


    After hearing this, Minos thought to himself. "As expected…"


    After that, they introduced themselves. "Nice to meet you. My name is Elen Nash, and this is my bodyguard, Eduard." Said Elen with a smile.


    "Hmm, nice to meet you, I''m Minos Stuart, and this is butler Dillian."


    "So, Miss Elen, I''m curious to know what a Stone Ind merchant expects from my ck in." Minos spoke with an expressionless face.


    Elen then began to speak without hiding her intentions. "Well, as a trader, I''m always looking for opportunities. The ck in seems to be an excellent chance for me. For the past few weeks, I have been doing business at the Brown Kingdom. When I was finally returning home, I stopped in the Dry City to rest."


    "However, despite always passing through this city when Ie to the Brown Kingdom, this time I heard some interesting rumors about a new local sovereign. Of course, that kind of thing happens a lot when you travel as much as a trader, but knowing the news from where you are is very important in our business."


    "But the story I heard was just too unbelievable. But if it were true, it would be something to turn the sky and the earth upside down. So, I decided to stay here for a few more days."


    "And now that I know that the rumor is well-founded, I intend to do business with your territory." Elen said calmly.


    "Hmm, I understand. But there are many problems for a big deal to be made for now. I estimate that it will take a few years before I can do big business with other regions." Minos spoke vaguely.


    After thinking for a while, Elen continued to speak. "I understand that you are just getting started, and any business that is done for now would have to be something small."


    "But I am willing to help you with these smaller things, even if I don''t make a big profit, in the hope that we can form a bigger partnership in the future."


    "And as a gesture of sincerity, I can invest 4 spiritual arrays focused on gathering spiritual energy and ssified as grade-1, high-level."


    After hearing this, both Dillian and Minos were impressed with how much this young woman was willing to invest in this rtionship.


    To give you an idea, the spiritual arrays are subdivided into 4 degrees, and each degree was divided into low, medium, and high levels. The difference between these ssifications was the power of the array.


    The array could be of any type, such as spiritual reunion, battle formations, defensive shields, etc. But the power of each array would be defined by the ssification it was in. For example, a grade-1, high-level, array was 50 times more powerful than a grade-1, low-level, array.


    This meant that the grade-1, high-level, spiritual meeting array would be able to create an area of ??spiritual concentration 50 timesrger than the area of ??a grade-1, low-level.


    As for the spiritual density that this array would provide in that area, it would depend on the spiritual concentration of the region where it would be, or on the quantity/quality of the spiritual crystals provided and on how well ssified the array would be.


    A grade-4, high-level, array would have an efficiency of 100%. It would either concentrate all the spiritual energy in the area or convert all the energy contained in the spiritual crystals supplied to the array into free energy within that area.


    The spiritual array of grade-1, high-level, would have an efficiency of 20%. But the difference in price between each was colossal. For an array with a measly 20% efficiency, the cost would be about 15,000 low-grade spiritual crystals!


    And for an array of the highest quality, you would have to shell out 100,000 high-level spiritual crystals!!


    For this reason, investing in a ce that barely started to develop, 4 arrays of grade-1, high-level, was something very high by the standards of the Northern region of the Central Continent.


    Minos then calmed down before speaking. "Oh! It seems that Miss Elen is convinced that the ck in will be very sessful."


    "But I want to know exactly what you want to get. I don''t want to sign a nk check." Said Minos, with a serious look.


    Elen then responded quickly. "As I said, I only want a ce at the table when the ck in develops. I would be pleased if I were your only contact within the Stone Inds. That would be enough for me."


    "You are talking about the ck in, but what about your side? Will you be able to handle the entire turnover of my region with your Stone Ind? Don''t get me wrong. I''m not looking down at you. I just don''t know you." Minos spoke with doubt.


    He wanted to know who he was dealing with. He didn''t want to receive ''small'' help now to have big problems in the future.


    Elen was not angry. She knew that this young man did not know her background, so she simply said. "I understand your side. It is natural that you do not know who I am, considering your past. But I can assure you that when the ck in is a major influence, I will not be a hindrance to your rtions with the Stone Ind."


    "In fact, if you look for the Nash family on Stone Ind, you will find that it is one of thergest merchant families in our region."


    "Hmm, ok. Thanks for the honesty, Miss Nash. I will think about your offer and give you a feedback in a week. I guess that''s not much, right?" Minos said as he looked into the young woman''s eyes across the table.


    "Okay, a week is not much. I''m staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. You can send someone to let me know when you''re ready."


    After that, Elen and her guard left, leaving Minos and Dillian alone in the office.


    Soon after, Dillian spoke. "If I''m not mistaken, the Nash family is really a big family on Stone Ind. I once heard a rumor that they even had rtions with an empire."


    "Oh! So, it looks like there should be no problems. But just in case, research about it, Grandpa Dillian. We have to know if she is not a member with a lot of problems within her family."


    After all, an exclusive business rtionship like the one Elen wanted was no different from a wedding. If one of the two sides had a problem, then it would affect both parties because when you marry, the other''s problems be yours too!


    Thus, Minos wanted to know with whom he would be rting, avoiding possible problems.


    …


    Thus, two days passed, and Minos'' group was still researching Elen Nash''s past. But today, Minos had a very important thing to do. He would move to level 10, the start of the Transition stage.


    The young Stuart was very excited about this and had already chosen an attack technique that he would learn at this stage.


    It was a skill ssified in Golden, with 10 phases, called Spatial Sword. It demanded that the user use a sword-like spiritual tool. When the technique was activated, the space around the user would be stopped for 1 second, leaving all objects and living beings ''trapped'' during that time, as long as no one exceeds the cultivation level of the user. If that happened, the technique would have a diminished effect on that individual.


    As for the space around the user that would be stopped, this would depend on the phase in which the technique would be. In the first phase, the space within a radius of up to 10 meters from the user would be influenced by the technique. In the following phases, this space would double at each stage, reaching up to just over 5 kilometers around the user when the technique reached maximum performance.


    With this technique, Minos would have a big advantage against those at the same level as him, and even if he faced someone stronger than him, there would still be a slowdown effect if the difference in strength was not too big.